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Questions About Build |
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GrizzlyCraig 
AVADirect Noob 
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
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 Topic: Questions About BuildPosted: 07 Aug 2012 at 3:38pm |
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First off, I'm really impressed with the layout of the site, the options, and the prices! It will be my first time ordering through avadirect and I'm enjoying the experience so far. I'm looking to get a build put together by the end of this week and I have some questions!
If I want a part that is not an option on one of the drop down menus, but is order-able though avadirect in the computer hardware section, can I buy that part and have it installed on the rig? and if so is there an additional charge for this? Does the ASUS P8Z77 WS motherboard have wireless capabilities or do I have to buy the wireless card separately. I've never dealt with liquid cooling of any kind, if I just buy the liquid cooling for the cpu do I need to choose a coolant? The fan options say maximum fan package. Can someone elaborate how many fans this includes? Is it just a replacement of the stock fans? For instance the carbide 500R, my selected case, comes with a 200mm side fan, two front 120mm and one back 120mm fans and then has mounts for additional fans. Does the quiet fan option just put quiet fan in the stock mounts or does it add additional fans? What exactly do I get with the additional wiring options? I believe crucial's ssd can be used with the raid configuration, is it worth getting this option? Any general advice on the build would be appreciated too! My price range is 2200-2300 which I am right under without a monitor so that is a good thing. So far with the options given, the build I have is:
Sorry for all the questions! Thanks, GrizzlyCraig Edited by GrizzlyCraig - 08 Aug 2012 at 1:41pm |
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BW85
AVADirect Guru 
Joined: 28 Apr 2012 Posts: 84 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 9:03am |
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I am not sure, but I think you only need the Custom Coolant if you're getting a complete water-cooled system. The closed-loop systems have the black tubing which can't be interchanged (I think), so you can save some money by not ordering a coolant color. In fact, if you aren't overclocking, you can save A LOT of money and go with one of the Cooler Master Hyper air coolers.
I'd probably switch out your Coolor Master PSU for a Corsair equivalent. I hear there have been a few RMA's and issues with Cooler Master PSUs. Excellent choice with the SSD! I think they can be used in Raid, but that is something the pros will have to confirm. I opted to not get a card reader in my PC. I saved about $12, but I don't have any device that I would need to hook up to it, so I felt it was unneeded. I don't think the wireless card you chose is compatible with the MoBo (PCI vs. PCIe), at least that was the issue I ran into mine when I configured my PC. Look into the D-LINK DWA-556 Xtreme N™ Adapter, Draft 2.0 IEEE 802.11n, PCIe x1, Full-Height/Low-Profile. I know it's not a lot of knowledge, but at least it'll be some ideas! I'm still learning all this myself; and I went with nVidia graphics card, and have little knowledge on Radeon. All in all, I'd say it's a pretty nice build! |
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GrizzlyCraig
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 9:49am |
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I edited the build a bit. I didnt even notice the z877 V-Pro on the drop down list before. Will I notice a difference in using the onboard Wi-Fi compared to a Wi-Fi card? I dont know anything about PSU's so I changed the coolermaster to a Corsair.
The graphics card decision was between the 7950, 7970, 670, and 680. I figured Id just go with the cheapest option as it should still be able to play all games max settings. Or at least I think it should be able to. Although after I changed the mobo/cooler I could probably go up to the 670.
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BW85
AVADirect Guru
Joined: 28 Apr 2012 Posts: 84 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 11:00am |
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I personally went with the 670 FTW; and I hear nVidia has much better driver support. Also, EVGA or Asus would be your best bet; both have great customer reviews and support.
And again, I am only guessing here, but I would assume that a Wi-Fi card would pick up a more stable connection. I think that is the extent of my knowledge, so far! Wait for Joe, Vedran, or Crypt to pop one; they have a much better understanding of it all than me lol. |
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GrizzlyCraig
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 12:42pm |
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After some reading it does appear that the 670 is a better choice. It beats the 7970 in some benchmarks and is cheaper too. I think I will go that route then.
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GrizzlyCraig
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 12:55pm |
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Any suggestions on which model of the 670 is the best?
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Jmundy
AVADirect Staff 
AVADirect Sales Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Location: AVADirect HQ Posts: 1339 |
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Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 3:25pm |
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Hello GrizzlyCraig,
EVGA or ASUS or top-performers, from what we have seen. As BW85 mentioned, both companies provide excellent support, should you ever need to contact them, and their PCB designs are based off of the reference design. Combined with their own spin on cooling solutions, temperatures for their GTX 670 cards tend to be better than most brands, without sacrificing quality or reliability. Gigabyte cards are known to have super, insane cooling solutions, but they don't use the reference NVIDIA PCB, so you kind of take a gamble on the reliability aspect. I also agree with what BW85 had to saw about the wireless card. They usually have dedicated processing units to handle data required to accept and send a wireless signal. By using most dedicated cards, for wireless, sound, etc...you take a decent amount of work load off of your CPU, allowing it to allocate itself to other aspects of using your computer; with the exception of basic add-on card. If you purchase a Sound Blaster Audigy SE card, being as old as it is, you're better off using the on-board sound. So, if you prefer an add-on wireless card, make sure it's a great one! IE: Linksys WMP600N or D-Link Xtreme cards. |
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Joseph Mundy
Assistant Sales Manager 1-216-503-6361 joseph.mundy@avadirect.com |
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BW85
AVADirect Guru
Joined: 28 Apr 2012 Posts: 84 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 3:27pm |
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I went with the EVGA GTX 670 FTW card; when I purchased it, it was just slightly more expensive than the standard GTX 670 retail card (maybe $20 or so). The difference, I believe, amounted to about 3-5 FPS more than the standard card. It also runs a bit cooler because it comes with a semi-better cooler. If things haven't changed, you can save even a little bit more money and go with the GTX 670 OEM card. I can't say for sure what the difference is, but I think it has something to do with customer support and warranty. I know Asus is also neck-and-neck with EVGA, so you may want to explore what cards Asus has to see if they are cheaper yet. Unless you are into gaming, I'd say the GTX 670 will be juuuust fine!
Oh yeah, and welcome to the boards! EDIT: Should clarify, I am not 100% sure what the difference between OEM and "retail" parts. Edited by BW85 - 08 Aug 2012 at 3:30pm |
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GrizzlyCraig
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 08 Aug 2012 at 4:56pm |
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Thanks so much for the responses, they are very helpful. I think my final build is as follows:
It comes out within my budget. I know the video card is pretty large, will there be room for all the compenents in the mid tower or would it be better to get a full tower? I'm pretty sold on the carbide 500R for the mid tower case but if its not large enough I can always change to a full tower. Thanks, GrizzlyCraig
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crypt
AVADirect Guru
Joined: 25 May 2008 Location: AVA Forum :) Posts: 423 |
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Posted: 09 Aug 2012 at 1:10pm |
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GrizzlyCraig,
Welcome to the forum. I really like the rig you configured nicely done. I know you'll enjoy it :). The case you picked looks nice too your a genius :). Edited by crypt - 09 Aug 2012 at 1:13pm |
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crypt
AVADirect Guru
Joined: 25 May 2008 Location: AVA Forum :) Posts: 423 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 09 Aug 2012 at 1:20pm |
I usually get retail parts myself and Joe could verify about different companies handle OEM parts.
I would guess OEM parts would have
limited packaging
no drivers
less accessories
Warranty not as good
documentation might be limited or none at all.
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vikonic
AVADirect Admins 
Joined: 11 Nov 2011 Posts: 351 |
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Posted: 10 Aug 2012 at 9:47am |
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GrizzlyCraig,
Welcome to the AVA Forum! To answer your question, the 670 GTX will fit in your case, which is good for up to about 300-330mm cards (670 is 254mm). Keep in mind that if you ever wanted to expand the available room in the case, hard drive cage is also removable. If you're HDD/SSD count is 1/2 then you can always get 5.25 to 3.5 brackets that allow installation of drives in the optical bay area. The rest of the system looks great. Good choice on the power supply as well as memory. Also, great choice on the motherboard, should provide all the features you need. I noticed that your processor is a non-K version. Keep in mind that non-K processors have a locked multiplier and don't allow overclocking via multiplier changes. If you are considering your system to perform a bit faster sometimes down the line, you may want to consider the K version of your processor. Either way however, i5-3570 is plenty fast even on its stock settings. Finally, depending on how you use your system the 128GB M4 SSD may be on the low side. There are a couple of tricks that you can do to maximize the space on your drive and also control how windows uses that space to make sure you have as much available as possible. We have a guide on how to do this on our forums, which can be found here: @crypt, Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Although the warranty coverage is the same, you don't get all the goodies such as power adapters, display adapters, posters, manuals and driver discs, etc. Most OEM parts are only shipped in an ESD bag and standard packaging. If you don't need the accessories, then this is a great way to save a few bucks.
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Vedran Ikonic
Technical Support Manager 216-503-6374 Option 4 support@avadirect.com How To Guides - FREE Troubleshooting Help from AVADirect Problems with your Computer? - Post HERE |
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GrizzlyCraig
AVADirect Noob
Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Location: Michigan Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 10 Aug 2012 at 9:51am |
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Thanks Vedran!
I do not plan on overclocking. This system will be only for gaming and media. I will put the most frequent games I play on SSD. Could you tell me how many fans come with the fans maximum package? Is it just the same amount that would come stock with the case? Or is there a set amount regardless of the case? Thanks, GrizzlyCraig |
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Jmundy
AVADirect Staff
AVADirect Sales Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Location: AVADirect HQ Posts: 1339 |
Quote Reply
Posted: 10 Aug 2012 at 11:19am |
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Hello GrizzlyCraig,
The amount of fans provided in a fan package depends. The fan package will either outfit the entire case with new fans, despite the stock fans that are provided, our simply outfit the spaces where fans are optional and not provided by the manufacturer. For example, the Cooler Master HAF cases have large 230mm fans that are difficult to source, so purchasing a fan package will not replace those fans, but add additional fans to the case that are not provided from Cooler Master by default. If you purchase an Antec three hundred case, we will replace all fans with upgraded fans to improve airflow. There's a level of different variables to consider, when interested in one of our fan packages, so feel free to consult us prior to choosing a fan package so we can advise you what the best solution is for your configuration, that way you're not cutting yourself short or purchasing more than you need. |
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Joseph Mundy
Assistant Sales Manager 1-216-503-6361 joseph.mundy@avadirect.com |
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